Meet Your Match
by TheLadyHilarious
Summary: In a world where Leo is an easygoing jock & Raph spends a lot of time in detention; where Donnie struggles not to correct his teachers & Mikey is the most popular kid in school. Where "Master Splinter" is a retired Interpol agent & "The Shredder" is a criminal mastermind—In this world there is laughter & pain, loss & love, innocence & war. My interpretation of the TMNT world.
1. Blind Rescue

**Chapter 1: Blind Rescue**

"What if she doesn't know?"

Emma Hughes shifted uncomfortably on the uneven chair, wincing when the plastic ties around her wrists pinched at the movement.

"She knows."

A congested sniffle on her right preceded the rattling crackle of a newspaper.

Frowning, Emma strained to hear the muffled conversation through the closed door.

Meat Hands, her bulky co-captor, had stepped out for a smoke; apparently he'd picked up a friend on the way back.

Her other abductor, Mr. Sniffles, sneezed, then coughed, then sniffled and Emma gave up trying to decipher what was being said on the other side of the door.

They had been waiting for her on the docks that afternoon and, in hindsight, Emma realized she should have expected trouble when she arrived in New York, but—she clenched her jaw. _Should haves_ and _buts_ were not going to help her now any more than they had helped her mother.

Emma's throat constricted and her eyes burned; shaking her head, she scowled. _I'm done crying!_ she thought fiercely.

The door opened.

"Emma Hughes."

Emma blinked. The voice was familiar: nasal and masculine with the sharp intonation of an American businessman.

The man from London.

"The bindings are unnecessary," said the man dismissively.

There was a low grunt and heavy footfalls before a large, meaty hand gripped her arm, sliding a cool metal blade between her bound wrists. With the slightest movement, the ties came loose and Emma released the breath she hadn't been aware she was holding, unconsciously rubbing her tender wrists.

The man chuckled as he approached and she caught the faintest scent of expensive cologne. "You are a remarkably resourceful little twelve-year-old, Miss Hughes," he said, his voice amused and condescending.

Emma heard the scratch of wool against upholstery as he sat.

"Especially one with your particular… disability."

Emma clenched her fists but said nothing.

The man chuckled again, apparently noticing the gesture.

"Where is it, Miss Hughes?" he asked after a moment, his tone as casual as if he were asking for the time.

Stubbornly, Emma pressed her lips together and the quiet stretched into an uneasy silence.

The calloused palm that struck the side of her head was jarring and sudden. Emma felt weightless, dazed. Ears ringing, she heard the angry voices of the man and her captors but they were indistinct and seemed to fade away.

Slowly, she became aware of her body; her throbbing wrists, the sharp sting along her temple and cheekbone. She tasted blood. But it was another long moment before she realized she was sprawled on the floor, the worn carpet against her cheek.

Emma lay there for a long while, listening.

Waiting.

But there was nothing; she couldn't even hear the congested breathing of Mr. Sniffles. Frowning, she slowly sat upright, her elbow bumping the seat of her toppled chair.

"Disability," she grumbled under her breath, rubbing her sore jaw.

Emma Hughes was blind and had been since the day she was born. But for her, being unable to see was no more a "disability" than being born with an allergy or birthmark.

Her mum had never completely agreed with that analogy, but that hadn't stopped her from dedicating her life's work to—Emma swallowed hard and swiped at her eyes. _Enough!_ she thought impatiently, slowly getting to her feet.

Cautious, Emma slid one foot forward, side-stepping her toppled chair.

She needed a plan.

A weapon, maybe?

Her foot bumped a piece of furniture and Emma gratefully ran her hand over the scratchy upholstery of an armchair tucked neatly against the wall. Dragging her palm along the peeling wallpaper, she came to a smooth, over-painted window frame. The windowpane was cold against her fingertips and she could hear the muffled sounds of the city outside as an idea started to form in her mind.

* * *

Raphael Hamilton shivered, despite his jacket, and swore. "Case, what the hell are we doin' up here?"

Casey Jones grimaced, head hunched against the bitter, January cold. "I, uh, thought we could use some fresh air."

Raph snorted, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking up at the clear, starless sky. "Coward."

Rather than denying it, Casey just groaned. "Man, she's gonna kill me."

Raph chuckled. "Yup."

Frowning, Casey elbowed his friend, which got him a solid punch in the arm before the pair looked out at the lights of New York City.

A movement caught Raph's eye but it took him a minute to pinpoint the source. Across the street and two buildings over was another apartment building; it was several floors higher than Casey's rooftop and completely unremarkable except for a window screen about five floors up, swinging in the breeze.

Raph blew out an impatient breath and started to look away when a denim-clad leg slid slowly over the windowsill, its booted foot cautiously taking purchase on the narrow ledge just below it.

"What the—" Raph muttered to himself, pulling his hands out of his pockets. "Hey, Case—"

Casey grunted in response as another booted foot settled on the ledge and the slim torso of a young girl pressed close to the building, her long, dark hair wild in the wind.

Raph cursed, racing toward the fire escape, Casey shouting after him.

* * *

Emma's breath caught in the icy wind and her heart hammered hard against her ribcage. The skin over her knuckles was pulled tight as she gripped the windowsill and her boots shifted slightly on the impossibly narrow ledge.

_Fire escape,_ she thought to herself resolutely. _Get to a fire escape._

With a shuddering deep breath, Emma slowly slid her foot along the ledge, her fingers finding purchase between the brickwork.

* * *

Raph landed hard on the cracked pavement in the alleyway alongside Casey's building before racing out into the street, rolling over the hood of a passing Buick, horn blaring.

Cursing, he looked up.

The girl was slowly making her way along the ledge.

Raph swore again, vaulting over a construction barrier and sprinting toward the building's fire escape.

* * *

Emma's fingers ached as she dragged one foot along the ledge before carefully sliding the other forward again. The wind was merciless; her hair whipped around her face and her eyes watered. Tender fingertips dragged along one brick, two bricks, three—nothing.

Emma quickly gripped the corner, pulling her body flush against the building.

_A corner_, she thought with a frustrated breath. Right, she could maneuver a corner.

_I just have to figure out how…_

* * *

Raph settled one foot, then the other, on the narrow ledge before grabbing another just above his head; it was too high for the girl to reach but he was grateful he wouldn't have to pinch bricks for support.

Muttering under his breath, he shuffled along the ledge as quickly as he dared just as Casey raced around the corner below, out of breath.

"Are you nuts?!" he gasped, scrambling to the fire escape.

Raph swore under his breath. "Probably."

* * *

Slowly, Emma scooted toward the edge, carefully reaching around the corner.

"Easy," said a low voice near her outstretched hand, warm fingers curling around her wrist.

Startled, Emma screamed… and lost her footing.

She heard the voice swear, felt her body drop and the fingers around her wrist tighten painfully before she was jerked forward.

* * *

Raph growled, straining to hold on. He yanked the girl toward him, but the corner of the building got in the way and she hit the wall, her head whipping forward and colliding with the brick.

Instant dead weight.

Swearing, Raph awkwardly shuffled back along the ledge, the girls limp body dangling from his grip.

"Almost there," said Casey from behind him, leaning out over the fire escape railing, arms outstretched.

With a grunt, Raph swung the girl toward his friend who managed to grab her under the arms before stumbling backward and falling on his butt, taking the girl with him.

Casey snorted, getting a good look at the shiner already starting to swell on the left side of her face. "Nice goin', hero."

Back on the fire escape, Raph let out an irritated breath. "Shut up," he snapped, picking her up and wincing when he got a good look at her face.

She looked like she'd gone three rounds in a boxing ring and lost. Her left eye was swollen and already turning a dark purple and there was a narrow gash above her eyebrow that was oozing blood along her temple and into her hair.

"You gonna take her back inside?" Casey asked as he got to his feet.

It made sense what Casey was suggesting; he should take her back inside. Get her help. Raph's eyes narrowed as he stared at the girl in his arms; hell, she couldn't be much older than his younger brothers.

He hesitated.

When he'd first seen her climbing out onto the ledge, he'd assumed she was a jumper. Suicidal. But looking closer, Raph realized her shirt was torn at the shoulder and there was a narrow trail of dry blood from a corner of her mouth along her cheek.

"Raph?"

"No."

Casey stared at him. "No?"

Raph just shook his head, readjusting his hold on the girl and moving around his friend toward the fire escape steps. He needed to get her home; Donnie would know what to do.

* * *

© Nickelodeon


	2. Awake

**Chapter 2: Awake**

"Leo, I'm _starving_!"

Leonardo Hamilton sighed, looking up from his chemistry homework into a pair of wide, blue eyes.

"Mikey," said Leo, a little less patiently than he had when his little brother had made the same complaint five minutes earlier, "Dad's running late and said he'd grab something on the way home."

Kneeling on a chair at the other end of the dining table, Mikey groaned, dramatically collapsing onto the cluttered tabletop, arms spread-eagle and tongue protruding from a corner of his mouth.

Leo chuckled, returning to his homework.

"Watch where you flail your appendages, Mikey," Donnie called from the living room where he was helping April with her English homework. "That robotics model took me all afternoon to assemble."

Mikey opened the eye not currently pressed against the tabletop, scanning over what was left of the new toaster scattered across the dining table. At the center was Donnie's latest science project: a small, metallic robot that did who-knew-what.

Smirking, Leo watched Mikey consider the risks, apparently eager to alleviate his impending starvation with a bit of mischief.

More often than not, it was Mikey's inquisitive nature that resulted in the premature demolition of Donnie's latest inventions. That is, until last summer when Donnie equipped his most recent creation with an "anti-Mikey" security measure.

_"Once activated," Donnie had explained, "it will emit a minor electrical discharge intended to discourage unauthorized manhandling."_

Leo grinned to himself as Mikey sat up, thoughtfully propping his head in his hands.

The "minor electrical discharge" had knocked their overly-curious little brother across the room.

"Leo—"

"When dad gets home, Mikey," Leo responded automatically.

Huffing, Mikey slumped forward and his head hit the table with a solid _thunk_.

"I might have a granola bar in my bag," said April, reaching for her backpack.

Mikey rolled his head to the side, unimpressed… until April held up a _chocolate-covered_ granola bar.

In a flash of orange and denim, Mikey was out of his seat and over the back of the couch.

"Mikey!" Donnie growled when his little brother's leg collided with the side of his head.

April giggled as Mikey made quick work of the wrapper and attempted to eat the entire bar upside down.

"If you choke," snapped Donnie irritably, pushing Mikey's legs onto the floor, "I am _not_ resuscitating you."

Chuckling, Leo started to tell Mikey _not_ to choke when the front door swung open, banging into the wall.

Startled, Mikey fell off the couch with a gasp and choked.

"_You_ hurry up!" Casey barked over his shoulder as he stomped into the living room. "Clear out, Donnie-boy!"

Scowling, Donnie pulled April out of the way and grabbed at the English text Casey hastily swept off the couch.

Coughing, Mikey rolled under the relative-safety of the coffee table and Leo got to his feet.

Casey Jones had the manners of an ill-tempered baboon at the best of times, but tonight his brother's best friend looked unusually anxious.

"Casey, what—"

Then Raph marched through the door carrying the beaten body of a little girl.

* * *

Raph made a beeline for the couch; he'd swear the girl had gained fifty pounds since he'd pulled her off that ledge and she sure wasn't getting any lighter!

"Geez, Raphie!" wheezed Mikey, eyes watering as he peeked over the side of the coffee table. "I knew you were havin' a hard time getting a date, but—"

"Shut up, Mikey," Raph grumbled impatiently, trying not to dump the girl on the couch. "Donnie…"

Donnie was already kneeling beside the girl's head, a concerned frown wrinkling his brow. "Mikey, first-aid kit, please. April, would you grab an icepack from the freezer?"

Raph rolled his shoulders as Mikey and April scurried away.

The girl's face looked worse in the light; her left eye was a swollen, angry purple, there was an ugly red welt along her jawline, and the cut above her eyebrow was still bleeding.

Leo stood behind the couch, staring down at the girl for a moment before looking up, hazel eyes sharp and serious. "What happened?"

Casey snorted from a nearby recliner. "Before or after he scared her right off the side of a building?"

"I'd jump, too, if Raphie asked me out," Mikey snickered, handing Donnie the first-aid kit.

Raph growled, making a grab for his little brother.

Mikey squealed, scrambling away.

"Raph!" Leo shouted after him.

* * *

Emma regained consciousness slowly; feeling the comfortable warmth of a well-heated room and the supple texture of leather beneath her cheek. She could smell cologne and the leather and… chocolate? The sounds of shuffling feet and low conversation exploded suddenly with an unholy squeal and chaos erupted all around her.

"I'm gonna slap you!"

"Raph, knock it—"

Someone screamed.

"Watch out for—" a girl shouted just before there was a startled yelp and a loud crash. "—Donnie's project."

Another person, close enough to smell the peppermint on his breath, groaned.

"Get 'im in a headlock, Raphie!"

"Casey, you are not help—_Raph_!"

"Uncle! _Uncle_!"

The unsettling cacophony of noise continued; there were scuffling sounds and laughter, shouting and swearing. And the smells of peppermint and leather were replaced by the sharp scent of antiseptic just before something cool pressed painfully against her forehead.

The sharp sting made Emma hiss and she slapped it away.

"Sorry."

Emma froze.

Her paramedic sounded… young. Too young.

Scowling, Emma pushed against the plush leather cushion to sit upright and the room stuttered into silence. It was an effort to open her eyes, so she kept them closed. Her head felt ready to explode and her right arm ached horribly.

_What happened?_ she thought miserably, trying to focus.

London. The ship. The docks. Meat Hands and the man with the questions. The window…

_The ledge!_

Reaching up, Emma gingerly ran tender fingertips along her swollen left eye to the narrow gash above her eyebrow.

"Can you open your eyes?"

_Definitely too young to be in the medical field_, Emma decided, opening her right eye with a frown; her left had swollen shut.

The boy hummed thoughtfully. "Well, you don't appear to have a concussion," he said matter-of-factly. "How do you feel?"

Someone snorted. "Dude, _look_ at 'er! How d'you think she feels?"

Someone else chuckled quietly.

None of them sounded much older than she was.

_Where _am _I?_

"Yeah well, she's awake, ain't she?" barked another voice, a familiar voice. "So why don't you start with why you were out on that damn ledge to begin with."

"_You!_" Emma growled furiously, eyes narrowed and fists clenched. "This is all _your_ fault!"

* * *

© Nickelodeon


	3. The Debate

**Chapter 3: The Debate**

It was bad enough to be kidnapped once—but _twice_?!

Emma surged to her feet in righteous indignation... and immediately regretted the sudden movement. Swaying on her feet, she mumbled a frustrated, "Bugger it," before her knees buckled beneath her.

* * *

Raph cursed, lunging forward to stop the stupid girl from doing a face-plant on the coffee table, but Donnie caught her first.

"Bloody hell," cried Mikey theatrically, "she's British!"

"Get off!" the girl hissed, shrugging away from Donnie and toppling backward onto the couch again.

"Mikey, watch your language," said Leo automatically, his tone distracted.

"Hey! Raphie said it first!"

Growling, Raph shoved Mikey into the recliner currently occupied by Casey, who swore loudly.

"Dude, _that_ was way worse than hell!" Mikey objected.

"Hey Reckless," Raph snapped impatiently, stomping over the coffee table, "_you're_ the one crawlin' out of five-story windows, not me!"

"Raph," Leo warned.

Raph's lip curled in response; intimidation was his specialty and this little brat was scratching at his last nerve. _My fault my _ass! he thought.

But the girl didn't cower or cry, she just sat there scowling up at him with one good eye and a thin line of blood running down her bruised cheek.

Raph blinked. Someone had obviously knocked her around tonight; hell, the girl's face looked like hamburger! She should be weepy and hysterical and… _grateful_, damn it!

"I'm _sure_," Leo spoke up, his speech irritatingly slow and nonthreatening, "that Raph was just trying to help."

The girl snorted derisively. "Right, because sneaking up on someone on a ledge is ever so _helpful_!"

"But why's the rum gone?" chirped Mikey from the floor where Casey had dumped him.

Donnie groaned. "Mikey, Harry Potter and Jack Sparrow are not representative of the entire British population."

Mikey gasped. "What about second breakfast?"

Donnie sighed.

"I wasn't sneaking up on anyone!" Raph bellowed, ignoring Mikey and earning a dark look from Leo. "I thought you were gonna _jump_!"

"Then I was, what," Reckless snapped back, "aiming for the wheelie bin on the _other side of the building_?!"

"Heh," Casey snickered. "Self-cleaning suicide."

April smacked him on the arm. "_Not_ funny."

"Uh, what's a _willy_ bin?" asked Mikey.

"_Wheelie_, Mikey," Donnie corrected. "A _wheelie bin_ is basically the British equivalent of a dumpster."

Mikey blinked at him and Donnie grinned, holding up his smart phone. "British slang app; _wheelie bin_ was word-of-the-day a couple months ago."

Raph rolled his eyes, but Mikey just stared at his older brother in dismay. "Dude."

"The variations of the English language are extremely fascinating," Donnie insisted. "I have slang applications for several English-speaking regions around the world and—"

"_Dude_," Mikey interrupted, his expression pained, "you're sucking the awesomeness out of smart phones everywhere!"

Donnie glared at him. "Ignoramus."

"Dude, I _try_ to ignore you _every day_!"

"Shut up," Raph growled and, grinning, Casey gleefully smacked Mikey in the back of the head.

"_Ow_!"

Leo stepped closer and Raph braced himself for a fight.

But Leo wasn't looking at him, he was watching little Reckless. Eyes narrowed thoughtfully, he raised one arm and silently waved it back and forth as though trying to get the girl's attention.

Raph scowled, glancing at Mikey and Casey, who just blinked back at him (Casey pointed at his temple and mouthed, _Crazy!_). But Donnie was staring at the girl in amazement, raising his own hand for a quick wave, which pissed Raph off even more!

_What the hell?!_ he thought, looking at the girl again.

Then he felt his own expression drop as the girl continued to glare up at _him_—completely oblivious to his brother's stupid waving arm.

Raph cursed under his breath and Mikey grumbled something about swearing and inequality behind him.

Little Reckless was _blind_!

* * *

Emma had heard enough! Head still spinning, she probably would have thrown up all over the git looming over her if she'd had anything to throw up. As it was, she didn't know where she was or what this lot wanted but they were _certifiable_!

"Dude, Leo, what are you—?"

Then everyone got very quiet and Emma froze.

_ They knew!_

"You climbed out a five-story window you couldn't even _see_?!"

The juvenile medic beside her cleared his throat. "Technically, Raph, she wouldn't have been able to visually verify she was even on the fifth floor."

Emma glared. And _Raph_ snapped an angry, "Shut up!" before shouting, "Are you _insane_?"

"Raph!"

Slowly this time, Emma got to her feet, forcing her latest cantankerous captor to move back a step before she clenched her fists and punched him in the ribs.

The result was less-than satisfying when he scoffed in startled amusement, but the sound was all she needed to find his head and he wasn't laughing when Emma hit him on the jaw.

* * *

Raph swore.

The clock on the chin hadn't hurt, but it had sure as hell caught him off guard!

"If you're hoping to collect some sort of ransom, _Raph_," she sneered, "you'll be disappointed!"

Raph just scowled at her. "What the hell are you _talking_ about?" he growled.

"_Hell_ again, Leo," Mikey interjected helpfully.

Leo groaned.

"I've got a swollen face and a mad delinquent with a stupid name shouting questions at me and you're asking what _I'm_ on about?!" Reckless shrieked hysterically. "And what sort of name is that really? _Raph._" She snorted. "Why not Bebop? Eh? Or _Idiot?!_"

Mikey chortled. "I like this girl."

Raph suppressed a grin. He would never admit it, but he was starting to like her, too.

Then she poked him in the ribs and he instinctively grabbed her wrist.

"I will not be another kidnap statistic," she hissed with a wince, "not to you and not to those blokes from the docks!"

Raph's ready retort died in his throat at the stark look of pain and fear in her open green eye. For the first time that night, the girl was visibly shaken, gulping in a shuddering breath as the word _kidnap_ hung in the air around them.

Frowning, Raph looked down, opening the hand curled around her wrist. The girl tried to yank it away, but he grabbed her forearm with a scowl. Her knuckles were bruised and the tips of her fingers were raw, but it was the thin red welts that circled her narrow wrist that had Raph seeing red.

"Who did this?" he growled.

But the girl only pressed her lips together, glaring up at him defiantly and before Raph could press her for answers, the door swung open with a _whoosh_ of cold air and the smell of hot pizza.

"Sorry I'm late!"

* * *

© Nickelodeon


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